AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 333,300 shares, an increase of 20.5% from the November 30th total of 276,700 shares. Currently, 2.0% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 134,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days.
In other news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 13,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,107.15, for a total transaction of $40,392,950.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 13,857 shares in the company, valued at $43,055,777.55. This represents a 48.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in AutoZone by 354,692.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 993,419 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,293,100,000 after purchasing an additional 993,139 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in AutoZone during the second quarter worth approximately $424,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in AutoZone by 186.8% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 92,870 shares of the company's stock worth $292,544,000 after purchasing an additional 60,483 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its stake in AutoZone by 319.0% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 36,225 shares of the company's stock valued at $107,375,000 after buying an additional 27,580 shares during the period. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AutoZone during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $85,127,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.74% of the company's stock.
A number of analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $3,700.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,400.00 to $3,450.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $3,200.00 price target on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on AutoZone from $3,501.00 to $3,753.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded AutoZone from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating and cut their price target for the company from $3,205.00 to $2,917.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $3,384.89.
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Shares of NYSE:AZO traded up $16.29 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $3,202.00. 104,639 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 139,031. AutoZone has a 1-year low of $2,510.00 and a 1-year high of $3,416.71. The company has a market capitalization of $53.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.71. The business's 50 day moving average is $3,183.12 and its 200-day moving average is $3,108.35.
AutoZone (NYSE:AZO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 10th. The company reported $32.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $33.69 by ($1.17). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 53.89% and a net margin of 14.18%. The firm had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $32.55 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AutoZone will post 154.29 earnings per share for the current year.
AutoZone, Inc retails and distributes automotive replacement parts and accessories in the United States, Mexico, and Brazil. The company provides various products for cars, sport utility vehicles, vans, and light trucks, including new and remanufactured automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories, and non-automotive products.
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